South Blue.
Jam Land.
The trotting of horses and the circulations of wagon wheels could be heard as the afternoon sun warmed the burgundy earth.
Traveling along the main road leading to Jam Land, a modest caravan made its way through the countryside in an orderly single-file fashion.
Colorful wagons and carts containing myriads of things magical.
At the head of this modest caravan was Hugh Antonio.
Hugh Antonio sat at the driver seat of his wagon, the reigns in his hands, the white horses dragging him along majestically.
He closed his eyes and with a deep breath internalized the upcoming events.
It was Hugh Antonio's lucky break.
A man in his late forties, he had a wintery curly mustache.
His long dark hair was now showing signs of aging, with the odd silver hair here and there.
The circular spectacles that he wore were of preposterous proportions.
After many years grinding it out as ringmaster of a small circuit to the leader of a lucrative circus, he was finally hitting the big leagues of Jam Land.
And not just any stage in Jam Land either. Hugh Antonio's circus had been invited to play at the Alexandria Hotel.
Hugh Antonio's head rocked rhythmically as his wagon traversed the dirt road.
Behind him was his troupe of a colorful caliber.
With Hugh Antonio was its ringmaster.
All his life he has worked his way to the opportunity to be invited to Jam Land and perform. And now, it was time. This was it.
He let out a satisfied sigh as he pondered the fact, gazing up to the sky.
Vivienne Tara, a young lady with brown hair tied in a ponytail, sat next to Hugh Antonio and observed how he wasn't paying attention to driving the wagon.
"Antonio, are you alright? Maybe you should go inside and rest?" she asked worriedly, her thin wrists extending in an attempt to take the reigns from her ringmaster.
"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. No, it's fine. I was just thinking about tomorrow night's performance is all."
Hugh Antonio smiled at his young protege kindly.
A young woman that had just recently celebrated her eighteenth birthday, her dazzling green eyes and brown hair complimented her knack for performance nicely.
She smirked back at him, "Well, maybe I should drive then." Before taking the reigns off him.
"Very well my dear." Hugh Antonio offered no resistance.
"Honestly.." Vivienne Tara muttered to herself. Her mentor was in another one of his daydreams.
Hugh Antonio smiled as he gazed out to the road ahead. He figured this was a moment that should be savored.
Your first time driving into Jam Land as a lead performer only happens once.
The smell of anticipation thickened the closer the caravan came to the gates of Jam Land.
Excited energy spread throughout the many performers following behind Hugh Antonio, whom he calls his companions.
Then there they were; the gates of Jam Land.
The city had bricks of adolescent terracotta, each an individual color as if children took to them with vibrant chalk.
Hugh Antonio leads his troupe through the streets of Jam Land. The hooves of their horses would click as they stepped on the cobbled road.
They were traveling through the slums of Jam Land.
Every city has its underbelly. The contrast between Jam Lands slums and the glitz and glam of the main street was perhaps the most confronting in the entire world.
Hugh Antonio shook his head as if a dog shaking off the water. Having come from a slum much like this one, he could not help but want to avoid the filth.
That's when Vivienne Tara stopped the wagon.
"Hmm? Why have we stopped?" Hugh Antonio asked his young assistant.
"Look."
Vivienne Tara pointed down to the road in front of them.
There, lying in the street, was a body.
"My my, is he dead?" Hugh Antonio asked.
"What's going on up there?" One of the troupe members shouted from down the convoy.
"There is a body on the road!" Hugh Antonio shouted back to him as he hopped off his wagon.
He approached the body and crouched down.
"Oh?"
What Hugh Antonio saw was a handsome face.
A young man, likely the same age as Vivienne Tara.
His hair was dark green and his clothes were in tatters, revealing a relatively muscular physique for the presumably homeless young man.
Hugh Antonio noticed how the young man had a small freckle under sharp, predator-like eyes. Underneath the partially closed eyelid did he spy eyes of golden amber.
And they seemed to have life still in them.
"Ho! Hey! Kid, you alright? I am Hugh Antonio, a traveling performer!" Hugh Antonio said.
"Maybe he got done in by a robber?" Vivienne Tara theorized.
The young man did not reply, but for a moment Hugh Antonio felt a will to live oozing from him.
"Tara! Help me get this boy onto the wagon!"
"Are you serious?" She complained.
"She's right, boss. I don't think we should be taking in strays when we are this close to the performance of our lives." One of the troupe members agreed.
"It'll be fine! I started off much the same, and so did most of you. I'm sure he will be able to contribute. Now hurry up and help me!"
Vivienne Tara and all the other troupe members glanced at each other with the same dumbfounded expressions before sighing and doing what their ringmaster says.
"What is your name, boy?" Hugh Antonio asked him.
The young man whispered under his breath.
"Joka."
One month later.
Kimagure Joka yawned as he lazily made his house of cards backstage.
Vivienne Tara was practicing her unicycle act.
Kimagure Joka loved to waste time and he always seemed to do it in Tara's vicinity.
It had been a month since he had been saved by Hugh Antonio's troupe. They have since become the recurring headliners of the Alexandria Hotel.
Vivienne Tara was riding her unicycle along a thin tight rope high in the sky.
She was halfway through when an itchy feeling overcame her.
*A… ACHOOO!*
Vivienne Tara sneezed vigorously, causing her to lose balance and fall off the tight rope.
"Ahhhh!" she was falling to her death.
"You need to be more careful."
Vivienne Tara opened her eyes to see that Hugh Antonio had caught her.
"Phew! Thank you, master."
"Don't mention it. Hey, I need you to run an errand for me." Hugh Antonio said as he put her down.
"An errand?"
"I need you to take this clay egg that we were gifted for last night's performance and convert it for some cash." Hugh Antonio held out an artistic egg made of clay with geometric patterns on it.
"You're gonna sell that? I thought it looked pretty." Vivienne Tara mused.
"I'm not one for collecting stuff like this. Do me a favor and take Joka with you into town. I don't want you walking alone with that serial killer on the loose."
Vivienne Tara took the egg and nodded.
Kimagure Joka, having heard the conversation from backstage, came out eager for the adventure.
"Looks like it's you and me today, Tara-chan. 3"
The sweet and beautiful Vivienne Tara glanced at her tall handsome companion.
His pale skin almost looked cold to touch, his eyes sharp and observant. His green hair now spiked back, a style he has adopted since joining the troupe.
Vivienne Tara rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Let's do this quickly so I can get back and practice."
"Lead the way. +"
The main street of Jam Land was bustling as per usual.
It was a population of colorful characters and tourists.
Here, you did not bat an eyelid if you saw a clown walking his lion, or if you saw a midget surrounded by a large crowd as he swallowed swords as big as him.
"Ooooo! We're surrounded by freaks!"
"You should fit right in then."
Swiss company had just docked in Jam Land and were standing by the ostentatious fountain in the middle of the main street.
"Look at that guy! Conjoined twins juggling? How crazy!"
Swiss was getting distracted by the myriad of visual stimuli that were passing him by. He was smoking one of the cigars that he recently plundered from an enemy ship.
He had been to a circus before IRL, but the shit he was seeing here was whacky in true One Piece fashion.
"Mmm. Welcome to Jam Land. Now, regarding our plan… OI! SWISSAN!"
Before Jinzo could lead the team meeting, Swiss had already runoff. He was following a horse that was riding on top of a human.
"TROLOLOLOL! THE ROLES ARE REVERSED!"
"Swissan- Oh, who am I kidding?" Jinzo let out a defeated sigh, "Welp, since we're all just running off, let's meet back here at the fountain around sundown. Agreed?"
"Whatever." Grit replied as he went his own way. His dark hood flowing epically he strode.
"Right.. Please be careful, Grit-san."
"…"
Jinzo then turned to Raito, "That's it, I suppose. Would you mind trailing Swissan and telling him where to meet up?"
Raito scratched his head, "Fair enough. What about you?"
Jinzo closed his eyes as he smiled, "There's bound to be a tea house around here somewhere. I'll see you later."
"Yeah…"
Raito was now left alone in the middle of Jam Land.
His acute ninja senses were having a hard time dealing with all the noise and things happening around him.
It was the first island since leaving Ninja Kuni that was this… crowded. Needless to say, Raito was feeling slightly overwhelmed.
Raito snapped himself out of his first encounter with social anxiety and moved his feet,
"Oi, Swiss! Wait up!"
An old teaching drilled into him since the academy came to mind.
["When in doubt, remember the buddy system."]